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'Abhishek aa gaya? Sanju Samson hai? Tilak bhi?' Shoaib Akhtar's narration of India's Asia Cup squad is peak Pakistan
Shoaib Akhtar was spellbound reading out India's Asia Cup squad.
Some of these former Pakistan cricketers turned analysts are effortlessly funny. They are the living, breathing examples of peak Pakistan, peak entertainment. After a month-long gap, Indian cricket is back, with the Asia Cup, and when the battle is for the biggest prize of the subcontinent, Pakistan and their former cricketers cannot be left out. Ahead of India's opening match of the tournament against the UAE on Wednesday at the Dubai International Stadium, the likes of Shoaib Akhtar, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik and Umar Gul came together on a Pakistan news show and were blown away by seeing how strong this current Indian team is.
India's squad for the Asia Cup 2025 was picked on August 19, but it seems as if the Pakistan greats, Akhtar especially, got a chance to look at it just now. Akhtar began the discussion, saying India will beat the UAE by batting first and putting up a huge total on the board. However, when the ex-Pakistan pacer asked to view the Indian squad that he was short of words. Akhtar was spellbound by the sheer talent and match-winners in the 15-member list, but it's the way he described it that took the cake.
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"Achha, Abhishek bhi aa gaya? Bumrah bhi hai? Sanju Samson bhi hai, finally. Tilak bhi. Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Rinku Singh bhi hai, Shubman hai, Surya hai, Shivam Dube, apna Axar Patel. Yaar, yeh kis ko baahar bithaayenge? (Who do they leave out?)
The sheer hopelessness on Akhtar's face and in his voice said the whole story, almost as if he was sympathising with the UAE. While his former teammates and current panellists still gave the UAE side some chance to cause an upset – Misbah believes the team has the batting depth, judging by their performance in last week’s tri-series – Akhtar blatantly refused, and pointed out that the only positive for India's opposition in tonight's game is if they don't lose to the defending T20 world champions badly.
"See, we know they are going to lose. I just feel that losing by a small margin would be a win for the UAE. This is my complaint against Hong Kong, who lost by 94 runs to Afghanistan last evening. You had to lose, at least lose close. So that you get something. Show some fight.
Pakistan's first match of the 2025 Asia Cup is on Friday against Oman, followed by the much-awaited blockbuster clash against India on Sunday.
